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The greatest interurban railroad in America died 55 years ago today* (actually at like 2am tomorrow morning)
>direct service from the Chicago Loop to downtown Milwaukee (doesn't exist today)
>85 mile route consisted mostly of double-tracked, private right-of-way
>also had segments of street running and operation over the Chicago "L"
>service competed directly with the C&NW and Milwaukee Road commuter and intercity services
>first railway to offer piggyback T.O.F.C. freight service
>first railway to offer airline connections
>set railway record (to this day) for largest mass movement of people over a single day in 1926
>no speed limits, 85-90mph speeds were achieved daily in regular service
>declared the permanent record-holder for fastest interurban railroad
>was the fastest railroad ever to use trolley poles
>transitioned between third-rail and overhead wire at 60mph+ speed (manually raising the trolley poles)
>first interurban railroad to introduce an air-conditioned streamliner
>studied by JR engineers in the late 1950s, influenced Japanese HSR
>last of the major "classic" interurban lines, survived all the way into the mid-1960s
>riders fought abandonment in court for five years, tried to buy the railroad and keep it running
>a small segment was saved and became the first federally-funded mass transit project (which is considered a massive success)
In addition to all of this, it was also pretty comfy, as you will see.
F
>direct service from the Chicago Loop to downtown Milwaukee (doesn't exist today)
>85 mile route consisted mostly of double-tracked, private right-of-way
>also had segments of street running and operation over the Chicago "L"
>service competed directly with the C&NW and Milwaukee Road commuter and intercity services
>first railway to offer piggyback T.O.F.C. freight service
>first railway to offer airline connections
>set railway record (to this day) for largest mass movement of people over a single day in 1926
>no speed limits, 85-90mph speeds were achieved daily in regular service
>declared the permanent record-holder for fastest interurban railroad
>was the fastest railroad ever to use trolley poles
>transitioned between third-rail and overhead wire at 60mph+ speed (manually raising the trolley poles)
>first interurban railroad to introduce an air-conditioned streamliner
>studied by JR engineers in the late 1950s, influenced Japanese HSR
>last of the major "classic" interurban lines, survived all the way into the mid-1960s
>riders fought abandonment in court for five years, tried to buy the railroad and keep it running
>a small segment was saved and became the first federally-funded mass transit project (which is considered a massive success)
In addition to all of this, it was also pretty comfy, as you will see.
F
